Letters to the Editor: Working class takes in on the chin, Brown ad overstates views and more

We now have indisputable evidence that the working class has been sold out by all the powers that be – both parties, labor, all of them.

In a day when technology has made the transfer of funds virtually automated, we have seen the unrestrained move to bi-weekly pay by employers. Try to tell workers 80 years ago that their wages would be held another week after they were earned and watch what would’ve happened. If anything, workers could be paid more often, not less. Do these employers really need to have an interest free loan of half their workers annual wages for a cummulative six months on top of all the rest of their corporate welfare?

In a TV commercial featuring a scene from the CBS News show “60 Minutes,” known for its hard-hitting investigations, Leslie Stahl, the correspondent, was shown stating Scott Brown’s campaign theme: “He’s turned out to be unpredictably independent and beholden to no one,” she said.

A belated note to Leslie Stahl: I thought that since she seems unable to do any research or investigative reporting these days, I would give her a hand with her facts. When she stated in one commercial that Brown was “unpredictably independent and beholden to no one,” she was so far off base I questioned her integrity.

Scott Brown has been predictably dependent from the moment he signed the Grover Norquist pledge and accepted funds from the Koch brothers to pay for his campaign. From then on, he was beholden to them all the way.

– SHARLEEN KAPP, West Springfield

Candidates must support our farmers

Our nation is celebrating its second annual Food Day, a “nationwide celebration and a movement for healthy, affordable, and sustainable food.”

Events are being held at libraries, farmers markets and over 200 schools in the state It is sobering to realize that while big, industrial farms have delivered on the promise of cheap commodity food, the delivery of this cheap food bears additional costs to our health, our environment, and our local economies. Our national policies have favored and abetted both a concentration of huge corporate farms and a concentration of wealth in fewer and fewer households. But what can we do?

First, we need to recognize that these problems are related. Our local food movement will stall if we don’t ensure that healthy, locally grown food is available to all residents of our region. It is not morally supportable or, in the long-term, economically feasible to base a change in our food system on a shrinking consumer base.

Second, to paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi, we need to eat the change we want to become. We’ve started this work in the Valley: more farms, managed by savvy farmers, are raising more kinds of farm products for local residents. The daily act of purchasing is a way to build our connections to community and land, while providing resources to strengthen local agriculture and our local economy.

Third, we need to raise these issues with family, friends and colleagues. All over the region, individuals, businesses, and organizations are working to increase the purchasing power of low-income households, and school systems to provide access to fresh, local food for all residents.

Fourth, we need to engage our elected officials at all levels of government.

Sadly neither candidate for Senate has been asked a question in the debates or media interviews about how they will support Massachusetts farmers. Let’s make this the last campaign in which this omission occurs.

While the introduction and establishment of electronic medical records within a practice may take extra time and effort, it’s certainly worth it. My experience and discussions with colleagues tells me that Massachusetts physicians are enthusiastic about the improvements that EMRs can bring to patient care: Improved patient communication, reduced costs, and – most important – fewer medical errors. The technology certainly can benefit patient care and the practice of medicine, and it’s quickly gaining acceptance among physicians.

– RICHARD AGHABABIAN

Richard Aghababian is president of the Massachusetts Medical Society based in Waltham .